[COMP] Compiling Programs for Linux

Although I've learned quite a bit about Linux in the past few months,
there's still quite a bit I don't know.

I don't really like to have stuff on my computer system if I don't know what
it's for and a little about how it works.  When compiling programs for
Linux, most have the same procedure

Configure
Make
Make install

/From what I understand, configure adjusts the program to you system by
reading the system's environment variables.  Make compiles the program, and
make install put the program where it's supposed to go.  (Someone correct me
if I'm wrong here).

When a program is installed in Windows, it copies many different files to
the system.  Some are *.dll's (supposed to check versions here) that go into
the system directory and then there are the program files.   With Linux,
when you compile and install a program, does it generate a group of files
also?  Certain programs require specific libraries.  I think they are
usually referring to the dynamic libraries and not the *.h files (someone
please clarify this for me).  From what I understand, when you compile a
program for Linux, it only generates a binary for execution.  Then, you can
add or modify ASCII configuration files.

Can someone please clarify the install process for me and correct where I've
gone wrong?

If I want to uninstall a program, do I just have to delete the binary and
the configuration files, or are there other things that get put on the
system?

When you install a program, does it generate more environment variables that
need to be edited before you uninstall?

Are environment variables similar to the function of the registry in
Windows?

Mike

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